Extensible device for supporting objects, especially illumination devices as in photographic studio and the like

Abstract: The device comprises in combination: a structure composed of articulated rods extending between a fixed attachment point (5) and a free attachment point (7) for the object to be supported, this structure being extensible in the direction of the straight line (L-L) joining the fixed attachment point (5) and the free attachment point (7), and being symmetrical about this line and more or less rigid in directions perpendicular to the direction of extension (L-L); and the spool (13) rotating about a pin (15) inserted in said structure at a point close to the free attachment point (7), connected to spring means for winding up a cord (17); said cord having one end fixed to said structure close to said line (L-L) at a point between the fixed attachment point (5) and the spool (13), and the other end fixed to the circumference of the spool (13).

Description: The present invention relates to an extensible device for supporting objects, with special features making it both practical and easy to use, especially for illumination devices as in photographic studios and the like. The present invention relates to a device from which objects, such as spotlights or other means of illumination, may be hung. It is of the kind that comprises a pantograph system of articulated rods linking together two attachment points, one of which is designed to support the object and the other to connect the device to a supporting structure, typically an overhead structure. These devices have means for balancing the weight of the suspended object and enabling the articulated rod system to be lengthened or shortened. These means currently consist (in the smaller types of systems) of one or two leaf springs that provide an approximately constant load independently of how much the system may be extended and that are spiral-wound. An example of such a device is disclosed in GB-A-2,083,433. These springs have many drawbacks, including: the risk of sudden breakage when the spring is under tension. This can cause very serious harm and permanent injury to anyone near the device; the difficulty of adjusting the load of the spring to suit the weight of the object hanging from the device. In order to make adjustments, the spring has to be dismantled from the articulated rod system; the articulated rod system contracts suddenly under the spring loading whenever the object it is supporting is removed. The object of the present invention is to provide a device of the kind outlined above which will overcome these drawbacks and be safe and practical in use. These and other objects, which will be clear to those skilled in the art as they read the following text, are achieved by the features described in Claim 1. GB-A-1,160,668 discloses a telescopic load support with a set of telescopically related tubes, at one end of which a spool is arranged. The cable wound on the spool is attached at the opposite end at the telescopic tubes, to support a load. In practice, in an advantageous embodiment, the device comprises in combination: a structure composed of articulated rods extending between a fixed attachment point and a free attachment point for the object to be supported, this structure being extensible in the direction of the straight line joining the fixed attachment point and the free attachment point, and being symmetrical about this line and substantially rigid in directions perpendicular to the direction of extension. The device also comprises a spool rotating about a pin inserted in said structure at a point close to the free attachment point, connected to spring means for winding up a cord; said cord has one end fixed to said structure close to said line at a point between the fixed attachment point and the spool, and the other end fixed to the circumference of the spool. Extending said structure draws out said cord from the spool, the drawing out being opposed by means which adjustably brake the rotation of the spool only in the direction of unwinding of the cord; in this way said brake means oppose the component of the weight of the structure and of the object to be supported in the direction of extension of the structure, making it possible to balance said total weight and to keep the supported object at the desired distance from the fixed point; the free turning of which spool in the opposite direction together with the winding up of the cord onto the spool results in the structure moving in the opposite direction to that of extension with no extra load other than that of the total weight of the structure and object and of the friction between the moving parts of said structure. The drawings shows one possible embodiment of the invention, and in particular: Fig. 1 shows a side elevation of the supporting device; Fig. 2 shows another side elevation of the supporting device viewed through the line II-II marked in Fig. 1; Fig. 3 shows a section through the line III-III marked in Fig. 1; and Figs. 4 and 5 show sections through IV-IV and V-V marked in Fig. 3. As shown in Figs. 1 and 2, the device comprises: a first series (1) of rods (3) hinged together to form a succession of deformable parallelograms extending along the straight line (L-L) joining a fixed attachment point (5) and a free attachment point (7), each rod forming part of two adjacent parallelograms, except rods (3.1) at the beginning and end of the series; and a second series (9) of hinged rods identical to the first series (1) and facing the latter, the two series having in common at least the outermost hinge pins (11) of said rods (3), so that the assembly has sufficient transverse rigidity. The device also comprises a spool (13) which rotates about a pin (15) (Figs. 3, 4 and 5) inserted into said rod structure at a point close to the free attachment point (7), said spool (13) having a spiral spring (16) for the purposes of winding up a cord (17). Said cord has one end fixed to the rod structure close to said line (L-L) at a point between the fixed attachment point (5) and the spool (13), and the other end fixed to the circumference of the spool (13); extending said rod structure draws out said cord (17) from the spool (13). The drawing out of the cord (17) from the spool (13) is opposed by means (19) which adjustably brake the rotation of the spool (13) only in the direction of unwinding of the cord. In this way said brake means (19) oppose the component of the weight of the rod structure and of the object to be supported, in the direction of extension of the structure, in order to make it possible to balance said total weight and to keep the supported object at the desired distance from the fixed attachment point (5). The free turning of the spool in the opposite direction together with the winding up of the cord (17) onto the spool (13), results in the rod structure moving in the opposite direction to that of extension with no extra load other than that of the total weight of the structure and object and of the friction between the moving parts of said structure. Said means (19) for opposing the free turning of the spool (13) in the unwinding direction of the cord (17) comprise: a ratchet mechanism with a toothed wheel (21) mounted coaxially on the spool (13) and pressed axially against the spool by a Belleville washer (23) with a force that can be adjusted by means of a nut (25) screwed onto a threaded seat (27) integral and coaxial with the spool (13), so as to create adjustable frictional torque between the toothed wheel (21) and the spool (13); and a pawl (29) mounted on a pin (31) that links together two rods carrying the pin (15) of the spool (13). Said pawl (29) is acted on by a spring (33) so that one end (29.1) of the pawl is introduced between the teeth of the toothed wheel (21), thereby preventing it from rotating only in the direction of unwinding of the cord (17), while the other end (29.2) can be grasped manually to disengage the pawl (29) when it is wished to extend the supporting device without having to overcome the friction of the brake. The fixed and free attachment points (5, 7) each comprise a sleeve (5.1, 7.1) fitted with a wing nut for manually fastening the attachment point, on the one hand, of the supporting device to a fixed rod and, on the other hand, of the object to be supported to the supporting device; each of said sleeves (5.1, 7.1) is firmly fixed to a U bracket (5.2, 7.2) in which one of the two arms of the U is extended and contains a slot (5.3, 7.3). Said U brackets (5.2, 7.2) are hinged by a pin (35, 37) to the free end of the last rods (3.1) of the two series (1, 9) of rods forming said structure, and by means of said slots (5.3, 7.3) the first is guided on one of the rod structure pins (39) located on the axis of symmetry of said structure and the second is guided on the pin (15) of the spool (13) in such a way as to keep the sleeves (5.1, 7.1) lined up with each other however far the supporting device is extended.

Claims: Extensible device for supporting an object, especially an illuminating appliance for photographic studios, comprising: a pantograph structure including opposite parallel series of articulated rods (3, 9) for linking together two end attachment points (5, 7), one (7) of which is designed to be fastened to the object to be supported and the other (5) to be fastened to a supporting structure; and at least one spool (13) for a cord (17) that is capable of being wound onto and off said spool and is fastened to the structure of articulated rods (3, 9), characterized in that the assembly formed by the spool and the cord (13, 17) constitutes a means of balancing the weight of the object supported by said device, through the use of elastic return means (16) and an adjustable brake means (23, 25) acting on said spool (13). Device according to Claim 1, in which said spool (13) is mounted on a pin (15) that joins together two opposite and parallel series (3, 9) of articulated rods. Device according to Claim 1, in which: the articulated rod structure capable of extension in the direction of the straight line (L-L) joining the two endmost attachment points (5, 7) is symmetrical about said line and substantially rigid in directions perpendicular thereto; the spool (13) is rotatable about a pin (15) inserted in said rod (3, 9) structure at a point close to one (7) of said attachment points (5, 7), said spool being provided with spring means (16) for winding up the cord (17); said cord has one end fixed to said rod structure close to said line (L-L) at a point between the attachment point (5) furthest from the spool and the spool (13) itself, and the other end fixed to the circumference of the spool (13); extending which rod structure draws out said cord (17) from the spool, said drawing out being opposed by means (19) which adjustably brake the rotation of the spool (13) only in the direction of unwinding of the cord, so as to oppose the component of the weight of the supporting device and of the object to be supported in the direction of extension of the rod structure in order to make it possible to balance said total weight and keep the supported object at the desired distance from the point of attachment to the supporting structure (5); the free turning of which spool in the opposite direction together with the winding up of the cord (17) onto the spool (13) results in the rod structure moving in the opposite direction to that of extension with no extra load other than that of the total weight of the supporting device and object and of the friction between the moving parts of said rod structure. Device according to Claim 1, 2 or 3, in which said spool possesses: a recessed seat containing a spiral spring (16) whose outermost end is attached to the spool and whose innermost end is attached to the pin and, on the opposite side from said recessed seat and coaxial with said pin (15), a threaded seat (27) on which is mounted a toothed wheel (21) belonging to a ratchet-type arresting mechanism, said wheel (21) being positioned between the body of the spool and a nut (25) screwed onto said seat (27), while elastic means (23) are located between said nut (25) and said toothed wheel (21). Device according to Claim 4, in which said elastic means comprise a Belleville washer (23). Device according to Claim 1, 2 or 3, in which said articulated rod structure comprises: a first series (1) of rods (3) hinged together to form a succession of deformable parallelograms extending along the straight line (L-L) joining the two endmost attachment points (5, 7), each rod forming part of two adjacent parallelograms; and a second series (9) of hinged rods identical to the first series (1) and facing the latter, the two series having in common at least the outermost hinge pins (11) of said rods (3) so that the assembly has sufficient transverse rigidity. Device according to Claim 6, in which said attachment points (5, 7) each comprise a sleeve (5.1, 7.1) fitted with a wing nut for manually fastening the attachment point, on the one hand, of the supporting device to a fixed rod and, on the other hand, of the object to be supported to said supporting device; said sleeves (5.1, 7.1) each being firmly fixed to a U bracket (5.2, 7.2) in which one of the two arms of the U is extended and contains a slot (5.3, 7.3); said U brackets (5.2, 7.2) being hinged by a pin (35, 37) to the free end of the last rods (3.1) of the two series of rods (1, 9) forming said structure, and by means of said slots (5.3, 7.3) the first is guided on one of the rod structure pins (39) located along the axis of symmetry of said structure, and the second is guided on the pin (15) of the spool (13) in such a way as to keep the sleeves (5.1, 7.1) lined up with each other however far the supporting device is extended. Device according to one of Claims 1 to 7, in which the means (19) for opposing the free turning of the spool (13) in the unwinding direction of the cord (17) comprise: a ratchet mechanism with a toothed wheel (21) mounted coaxially on the spool (13) and pressed axially against the spool by a Belleville washer (23) with a force that can be adjusted by means of a nut (25) screwed onto a threaded seat (27) integral and coaxial with the spool (13), so as to create adjustable frictional torque between the toothed wheel (21) and the spool (13); and a pawl (29) mounted on one of the pairs of rods carrying the pin (15) of the spool (13), said pawl being acted on by a spring (33) so that one end (29.1) of the pawl is introduced between the teeth of the toothed wheel (21), thereby preventing it from rotating only in the direction of unwinding of the cord (17). Device according to Claim 8, in which the other end (29.2) of said pawl (29) can be grasped manually to disengage the pawl (29) when it is wished to extend the supporting device without having to overcome the friction of the brake.

Inventors: FUSI GIULIANO, FUSI, GIULIANO
Applicants: FIRENZE IND FOTOTECNICA, INDUSTRIA FOTOTECNICA FIRENZE S.R.L.
Application year: 1994
Main classification: F16M11
IPC codes: F16M11, F21V21